June 29, 2016

LP: Alexandra Gordon - Rain Songs

Behind all of the punk and pop-punk that Philadelphia is known for, there are some quiet yet
incredible singer-songwriters hiding within the scene. One being Alexandra Gordon, who recently
released her sophomore album Rain Songs. The short
album is perfectly named and bittersweet to its core as it plays on themes of love, longing, and heartbreak. As cliché as those themes can be,
Gordon never falls into that trap. She keeps her music in a realm of its own, seeming to bounce back
and forth from a daydream to her reality.
I say it’s perfectly named because it’s almost as if Gordon sat down by her window on a cool rainy
day and wrote this entire album in one fell swoop. I couldn’t envision a better setting for this album with its sleepy guitars and syrupy vocals. It’s an album of dreams as Gordon’s stream of consciousness guides
listeners through seven songs of thinking about what could’ve been, and what her love meant.

“Rewind it like a VCR / Really I would do it all over again,” she pleas on the track “VCR” for a re-do of her
memories. All seven tracks hit hard as Gordon relives her pain, but the album isn’t fully
heartbreaking. There is a distinct sweetness in the record’s tone built out of her ambition and
optimism. Gordon includes slight undertones of acceptance and moving on, that at times find their way to shine on
this record.
Still with all of this in mind, the thing that most impressed me on this record was its simplicity. The album comes in at a little over eight minutes, making it about as short and simple as you can get. There
may not be very much embellishment, but it doesn’t need it. It shows an incredible amount of self-control
and skill for an artist to only use what they need to and still create a complete sounding track. To
then make songs under one minute, or even two minutes and still have them feel full is even harder
to do, yet Gordon accomplishes an entire album. The only real downside to the album’s length is
how often I have to keep pressing repeat, but that’s not the worst problem to have.STREAM IT:rain songs by alexandra gordon

Listen to Alexandra Gordon onbandcamp.THIS STAFF POST WAS CONTRIBUTED BY:
Amy Garlesky is a philosophy/political science student and freelance writer based in Cleveland, OH
and Burlington, VT. Follow her ramblings on twitter @ayygarl.